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I»2;^CK~C01iII»IlOI-liai3~-U-lTIOIT. 

SPEECH ~Q 

OF 

HON. E. H. WEBSTER, OF ID., 



UELIVBRBD IN 



THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, FEBRUARY 18, 1861. 



Th« House having unJei consideration the report from • ' vseUot eommitt«» of thlrty-thret 
Mr. WEBSTER said : 



/ 



Mr. Speaker : In Bubmitting some remarks to the House this morning upon our national 
affairs, I desire, so far as possible, to lay aside every feeling of a partisan or sectional 
character, and come up to the consideration of the question with au eye single, not only to 
the interest and welfare of the State which I represent, but also to the interest and welfare 
of the whole country, believing, as I do, that they are inseparably connected ; and, although 
I am well aware that I shall not be able to bring to this discussion the ability, the research, 
and the eloquence which have characterized many efforts made upon this floor, yet I do 
claim to have as earnest a desire and as honest a purpose as any man can possess to assist 
in bringing to a peaceful settlement our present unhappy difiBcultiea. 

Sir, I am not a friend to secession. I have not been taught in thi l school of politics. I 
have learned, at the feet of Clay and of Webster, that when this Government was formed by 
our fathers, it was intended to be a strong, a self-sustaining, a permanent Government ; 
that they did not suppose that they were planting in it the seeds of its own destruction, bat 
believed that they were forming a Government, that should exist through all time. But, 
sir, even if such a right does exist, I hold that the policy of the seceding State?, in attempt- 
ing, at this time, to exercise it, has been precipitate, unwise, and selfish. 

Who, when he knows that in three short months after the American people in all the 
States peacefully, at the ballot-box, have declared their preference for a President of the 
United States, seven of these States have determined to break up this great Government 
which our fathers were long years in originating and perfecting, and who also knows the 
fact that the action of those States in severing themselves from the General Government — 
the highest exercise of sovereign power — has in no instance been submitted to the people 
for ratification, can deny that the action of these States has been precipitate ? Who that 
knows that if the Representatives of the seceding States in both Hou.'es of Congress had 
remained in their places, even if the incoming Administration had designed to take measures 
for the injury of the South, it would not hav*e had the ability, that the South and the friends 
of the South would have controlled both branches of the national Legislature ; and that, 
consequently, the Administration would have been harmless for evil ; who, I say, that 
knows these facts, can doubt that the action of the seceding States has been unwise ? And, 
sir, who that knows that the seceding States have taken their course without consulting the 



2 *^ ^7 

wishes ami feelings of their sister southern States — well knowing, as they did, that our in- 
stitutions were similar to theirs; that we have the same interests in this struggle as they ; 
that our lights were as much involved as theirs ; that the dangers resulting from such a 
course were much greater and more imminent to us than to them — can deny that they self 
i silly and arrogantly have endeavored and are endeavoring to drag us, the border slave 
fitntes, into secession against our wishes and aj^ainst our interests? 

But, sir, I have no desire to discxiss this question, nor the alleged causes that have led to 
the action of these States — the wrongs inflicted on the southern people by the unfriendly 
and unconstitutional legislation of ceriain northern Stales, and the formation and triumph 
of a great sectional party at the North, selecting its candidates from that section, and elect- 
ing them by the votes of that section alone, founded upon the idea of lenistance to the 
institutions of the South ; and, as it were, endeavoring to ignore the South in the control 
of the Government. These questions I do not believe to be pertinent to t>-is discussion ; I 
know they are not profitable. I refer to them simply to express my disapproval of them 
and of the results they have, in a great measure, assisted to produce. 1 desire, sir, to 
bring my thoughts to the practical questions that are before us. Leaving the past, letting 
ilie dead bury their dead, 1 wish to consider the present aod to provide for the future. — 
And, sir, if we would fully comprehend the great responsibilities that are upon us, we must 
not shut our eyes to the present contiv^'on of the country. It will not do to declare that 
there is " no crisis" in the land ; that the Union is safe ;" that " no man is injured :" that 
" nobody has been hurt." We must admit the facts as tney are ; and not, like the stupid 
ostrich, hide our heads when danger comes, and imagine that it is passed because it comeo 
not within the range of our mere physical vision. 

What is the present condition of the country, in brief? Why, sir, although we have 
had the most abundant harvest that ever blessed our fields ; although our granaries are 
bursting with the rich fruits of the earth ; although gold is poiiring into our coflFers — not 
oaly from our own Ophir, but from across the waters — it is nevertheless a sad fact that 
the arm of labor and trade is paralyzed throughout the land ; that the wrecks of shattered 
fortunes are gathering thick ar<^und us ; that the cry of the laboring man is coming up 
for relief ; and that even the credit of the Government itself is crippled and almost de- 
stroyed. Yes, sir ; and although our pioneers are pressing upon the wilderness, the sol- ', 
diers that were intended to protect them no longer till the forts of the West, but are here, j 
in the very federal capital itself, to see that legislation is carried on without interruption, ' 
and thai the President elect of the United States is peaceably inaugurated ; although, sir, 
our hiirdy and adventurous merchantmen are spreading their sails upon every sea, tlie 
ships intended to protect them in foreign waters are hugging our own coast, in order tr 
protect our own troops against attacks from citizens of the United States. Ay, sir, and 
while the President elect is making his triumphal procession to this city, and while we j 
are here talking about the safety and preservation of the Union, and saying that there is i 
no crisis and no danger, the President of another Confederacy within our limits is making i 
his procession to another capital of another system of confederated States, received by ^ 
(he plaudits of the multitude and salvos of artillery — States that number five million 
human souls ; States that have a vast empire within their limits ; States that declare that 
I hey are free and independent of our control, and that they mean to maintain their inde- 
pendence at the poini of the sword. Sir, the country is in danger; there is a crisis in 
the land : the temple of liberty is quaking to its foundations ; and it becomes us, the 
Representatives of the American people, charged with the interests of the people, charged 
to see that no detriment comes to the Republic, to take steps, if possible, to avert this dan- 
ger; to meet this crisis; to see that the rights and interests of the peoplfe are guarded and 
protected, and that this Republic is not broken in twain. 



3 

Mr. Speaker, as"! have paid, the rosponsibilifj is upon i/», and we cannot escape from 
it. True, there in a highly intelligent, respectable, and influential body of citizens sitting 
at the other end of the aveeue — the Peace Honfereuco. : and 1 trust iu God that, in their 
wisdom and patriotism, they will be able to reconiraend some measure of adjustment ; but 
when they have done this, their duties terminate. They can do no more. Thf>y cannot 
legislate. That responsibility will still be upon us, and we cannot escape it. 

\ow, sir, what/shall we do to prccrvc the Union of these States? I declare to you, 
sir, and to the .\mcrican people, that the one great object T have in view is the preserva- 
tion of the Union and the rights and liberties of all the citizens of the Rf-public within 
(he Union. Two lines of policy are before us, separate and distinct, e^ch having its 
advocates upon this floor and throughout the country, and each claimed by its friends to 
he'the only policy that will lead to that result. What are they? On« is the policy of 
compromise, 'of conciliation, of peace ; the other is the policy of a rigid enforcement of 
the laws, and a prompt suppression of rebellion, without compromise and without concession. 
Sir, between the.se two policies runs the same line of demarkation which marked those 
which were advocated, in the days when our fathers first resisted the laws of the mother 
couutry, by Lord North and the Earl of Chatham. " Listen," said the old carl, " to the 
complaints of your colonies. Redress their grievances." "Let us first suppress rebel- 
lion," replied Lord North. •• Let us iirst enforce the laws ; let us first see whether we 
have a government." And the Parliament, actuated by that natural prompting of the 
human heart, which we all have, and which, I think, has been actuating us here this 
morning to punish whoever resists our authority, yielded to the views of Lord North ; 
and the world knows the result. The rebellion was successful, and the English empire 
was dismembered. 

Now, sir, who are the advocates of this coercion policy? Who are they that declare that 
ihey ''make no compromise on this occasion?" that " they will enforce the law at all haz- 
ards?" that they have '-millons for defence, but not one cent for tribute?" I say, sir, 
with all respect to gentlemen, that in this House and elsewhere they are the men who have 
been remarkable heretofore for their hostility to the institutions of the South. T do not 
like to be invidious, but I may mention some names. There is the reverend gentleman from 
Illinois, [Mr. Love.toy.] There is the worthy successor of Mr. Giddings, [Mr. Hdtchins.} 
There is the senior member from Pennsylvania, [Mr. Stevkns,] and his more youthful col- 
league from the Wilmot district. [Mr. Grow.] There is the member from the Syracuse 
district of New York, [Mr. Sedgwick,] and his redoubtable colleague from the Orange dis 
trict, [Mr. Van Wyck.] There is the gentleman from Massachusetts, [Mr. Buklinoamu,] 
who so gracefully " reposes on the bosom of the North End." There is the gentleman from 
Connecticut, [Mr. Ferry,] and there is the gentleman from Wisconsin, [Mr. Wasitbcrn,] the 
distinguished representative of a distinguished family. So I might go on and tell the nation 
the characters of the men who declare here and elsewhere that they will make no compro- 
miee ; that they intend to enforce the laws at all hazards ; that they intend to put down 
rebellion at the point of the bayonet. The country will believe that, in their policy here, 
these gentlemen are but carrying out their hostility to the South and her institutions. I do 
not intend to express any doubt about the honesty of motives of these gentlemen ; yet the 
country will look through their action, and will believe, as I believe, that they see in it the 
unfriendly hand of men whose prejudices against the institutions of the South render them 
unsafe advisers in questions in which rights, connected with these institutions, are involved. 

Now, what will be the effect of this policy ? In my humble judgment, it will certainly 
lead to bloodshed and civil war, and probably to a further dismemberment of this Republic. 
In all human probability, it will drive from beneath the shield of the Republic other States 
that are now true in their fealty. If it does not do this, it will dig, between Republican 



States and the States that have seceded, a ditch so wide that never again can they get 
together. It will sow the seeds of such a harvest of hate as will forever prevent the com- 
ing together of the States that have seceded and the States that are true. This, in brief, 
will be the effect of the policy. Now, after you have carried out your policy of coercion 
without compromise, of war without concession, of enforcement of laws without concilia- 
tion — when yoo have brought these results on the country, when you have seen the southern 
cities laid in ashes, her fair fields blackened and destroyed, and her sons given to the sword, 
when yon have seen her women and children wandering homeless and friendless; and when, 
recurring to your own section, you find that your own people are burdened with intolerable 
taxation, that a skeleton stands beside each of your own doors ; that you are oppressed 
under the weight of military despotism ; when you find that the country is irretrievably 
broken up, what consolation will it be to you, in that hour to reflect that all these calami- 
ties have been brought upon the country in name of the Union, of the enforcement of the 
laws, and of the protection of public property ? 

Sir, their is another policy ; and I trust that its friends are in a majority on this floor. It 
is the policy of compromise and conciliation and peace. It is the policy which our fathers 
followed when they framed the Constitution. That instrument originated in a spirit of 
compromise General Washington declared, in the letter iu which he submitted it (the Con- 
stitution) to the old Congress, that it was " the result of a spirit of amity," and of " mutual 
deference and conceBsion." The same spirit has actuated the leading men of the Republic, 
whenever the Republic has been in danger. In 1820, it controlled the legislation of the 
country, and brought peace. This same spirit of compromise preserved us again in 1850. 
It is the policy of Chatham, the policy of Washington, the policy of Clay, the policy of 
Crittenden. I am one of the men who desire to see this policy inaugurated. Every man 
who believes that our present difficulties should be terminated by peaceful legislation, who 
thinks that, instead of appealing to the arbitrament of the sword, we should appeal to the 
intelligence and patriotism of men ; who is willing to make concessions, and, if necessary, 
to trample on party platforms and selfish ambitions, and everything that might stand in 
the way of a peaceable, honorable, fair, and final settlement of the questions dividing us, 
must desire, with me, to see such policy inaugurated. 

Now, Mr. Speaker, if every gentleman here would get rid of the idea that the country 
must be saved on his proposition or not saved at all ; if gentlemen, instead of laboring for 
their own ultimatum, would only determine that there shall be a fair, just, and honorable 
Mttlement, we will have no trouble in coming to such a result. I desire that every man 
who has a proposition of his own shall not imagine that his is the panacea for all the public 
evils ; but that he shall be willing to take that or anything else which will cure the disease 
of the " sick man." 

Much has been said here and elsewhere about my own State. I am not authorized by the 
State to speak her sentiments. I shall only utter what / believe to be her sentiments. 1 
b«lieve that she stands upon the policy of compromise. She would be willing to take any 
fair, reasonable, just settlement of this question of slavery, nnd adhere to it. Stain not 
her honor, trample not on the rights of her people, and she will rejoice in any measures you 
may take that will preserve the peace of the country and maintain the unity of the Gov- 
ernment. She is a southern State, having southern feelings and southern interests. But 
she is also a national State. She loves the nation in which she has grown so large, as well 
as the section of which she is a part. She desires to maintain her present position in both . 
She desires to remain a southern State ; and she desires to remain a national State. She 
is not willing to yield her right to her social institutions, nor is she willing to give up all 
the blessings which come to her from her great national institutions. She is now in the 
heart of the Republic. There she desires to remain forever. She is not ambitious to be 
either the northern boundary of a southern confederacy, or the southern boundary of a 
northern confederacy. Her safety, interest, honor, all demand that she shall hold, if possi- 
ble, her present position. Sir, our fathers, in the days of Washington, and at his request, 
ceded this district for the purposes of the national capital. We, the sons of thos6 men, are not 
willing that it should become the seat of Government for any fragment of a broken country. 
Wo are not desirous of repossessing it ourselves, nor of seeing it go into the possession of 
any other nation than that which Washington and our fathers founded. Sir, at the very 
hour when a foreign foe was thundering at the gates of our chief city, a distinguished son 
of my State composed the song of the "Star-spangled Banner." And now, when our own 
brothers, carried away by passion, aroused by real and imaginary wrongs, are thundering 
at the gates of our great Union, we desire to maintain not only our claim to the song, but 
our right to the banner. 

Now, sir, in the name of that State, so loyal to the Union, so regardful of all its obliga- 



tions, 80 fraternal in its relationp, rb well to its northern as to its southern sisters, 1 desire 
to appeal to northern gentlemen to listen to her voice. I hfltevf it is the voice of wisdom ; 
1 know It is the voice of patriotism What dofs she desire ? What does she dcmnnil ? Ilcr 
sympathies sre strong towards her Si)tuhern sisters, for they are hone of her bono, and flesh 
of her flesh ; they are filled with men who have gone out from her borders ; and she loves 
her eons, wheresoever they may be scattered : yet she still remains true to the Union, true 
to the flag of the Republic, true to your Oovernnient. Under such circumstances I have 
the right to ask you to l?%ten to her counsels. 

Sir, her people, with a unanimity hardly ever seen upon any subject, among any people, 
ask that they shall not be plunged into deadly Htrife with their brethren and friends ; but 
that these difficulties shall be peaceably settled by fair, reasonable, and honorable compro- 
mise. They ask you to so guaranty their rights, and the rights of all the southern States, 
as to quiet all apprehensions that they may ever be invaded ; and they ask you to pursue 
A policy of conciliation and peace towards their erring sisters of the South. If gentlemen 
will only listen to these counsels of my State, and pursue the policy nhe thus indicates, 
what results would follow? Throughout all the land, wherever the glad tidings weut that 
a peaceful solution of our difficulties had been found, bonfires would blaze, bells would ring, 
cannons would roar, and men would rejoice ! In the northern States especially, business 
would immediately revive. Factories and furnaces would soon be in operation ; laboring 
men would have bread and employment; the great ships would spread their sails in every 
sea, laden with the products of every part of the Republic; and general prosperity and 
happiness returning, would pervade every department of society. This in itself, it seems 
to me, would furnish northern gentlemen with snfiScient inducement to pursue this course. 
But, sir, more than this : let thi« policy be inaugurated here, and the southern States 
which have not seceded, and do not desire to secede, will be forever bound to the Union by 
bonds stronger than chains of iron — memory, affection, interest, and honor. .Vnd, S'r, I 
take it for granted that northern men, appreciating the conservative position these border 
States now hold, admiring the stand which Kentucky and Virginia and Tennessee and Mis- 
souri have just take-i for the Union, and for further fellowship with them, will feel in their 
own breasts a corresponding conservatism and fraternity, and will rejoice to give expres- 
sion to those sentiments in prompt and honorable legislation. Pursue this policy, and, in 
my opinion, you will also bring back the States which have attempted to go out from the 
Union Why do I so believe ? Because they have adopted a constitution almost in (otidem 
verbis like our own; because they are debating the question of adopting a flag as nearly 
like our own as it is possible ; because they have elected as the chief officers in their repub- 
lic, not secessionists jof-r se, but men who have loved this Union, and who have stated that 
they desired a reconstruction of its parts; and especially because, in all these States, with 
the exception perhaps of South Carolina, there is a strong Union party to-day, whieh, if 
you will settle these vexed questions ; if you will accept fair compromises ; if you will give 
to the southern States whit they believe they are entitled to— security from invasion of 
their rights within the Union— I say. if you will do this, this Union party, which still exists in 
these States, will use all their efforts to bring them back. And, sir, when the passions of 
the hour have subsided, and cooler reflection has come; when memory brings up the old 
flag, and the friends they have left behind. I doubt not their hearts will turn again to the 
Union, and they will come otic^ more to their accustomed places. 1 have no doubt what- 
ever that this will be the result. And, for myself, I will say that it is a result that 1 much 
desire. I am ready to admit that they have acted with precipitation, and, as I said before, 
with arrogance and selfishness : and I will admit that I am willing to see them punished by 
the burdens they are bringing upon themselves for this conduct, in the taxation they are 
bringing down upon their people, and which must continue to increase, if they remain m a 
republic not larger than their present confederacy. Yet, sir, they are our brothers : they 
have gone out from our midst ; and if they shall be willing to return, my people will go 
forth to meet them. Ay, sir. if, like the prodigal son, when they have filled their bellies 
with the husks of secession, they shall again return to their fathers hou.se. we will go forth 
to meet them ; we will bring forth the fatted calf: we will make merry and be glad, be- 
cause these, our brothers, were dead and are alive again, and they that were lost are found. 
Now, gentlemen of the North, I ask you whether this is not "a consummation devoutly 
to be wished ?" But if this policy shall fail of such a result ; if it shall fail to bring back 
the seceding States ; if it shall fail to restore the unity of the Republic, then you will have 
done your duty ; you will have at least acted as patriots: and in so acting, you will have 
committed no wrong, and inflicted no injury upon any human being. You will have brought 
no damage upon any constituent ; you will have degraded no State that you represent, and 
have heaped no obloquy upon yourselves. Then, too, you can take such course as may seem 



best, wisest, and most patriotic, to preserve the dignity of the flag and the unity of the 
coantry. 

I have spoken in general terms about the duty of compromise and concession. So far a* 
I am concerned, sir, I prefer the proposition of Senator Cpittendbn, from Kentucky. I 
prefer it especially on this question of slavery in the Territories, which is the most 'iiffiouU 
one to settle. I prefer that a line should be run between us, that no man may misunder- 
stand his rights. I desire that a surveyor's compass, and not the decision of a court, which 
is disputed and may be reversed, shall determine how far the nortl*ern people may go in 
the Territories, and not be interfered- with in the slightest degree on the subject of freedom, 
as they call it, and how far the southern men may go with their slave property, and have 
it protected without molestation. Do this in the Tetritorie.s, and there can be no dispute 
between us; you settle that question forever. I am not talking about territory hereafter 
to be acquired ; for I confess, in all candor, that I do not care ever to have another foot of 
territory added to the Union. I am not willing to imperil the institutions of the country 
and the Union itself, about territory which we may nfver acquire, and which, so far as my 
present impression goes, and if I have anything to do with it, we never will acquire. 

My friend near me [Mt. Adeain] says, "sufficient unto the d:iy is the evil thereof." 
Very true. I think we have as much evil upon our hands now as we can well attend to, and 
I do not want to have any more by anticipation. Why hould we not run that line ? Some 
gentleman the other day — I do not now recollect his iip.me, but I will get it and put it into 
the Globe — [Mr. Hctchins,] that gentleman said that compromise presuppooed concessions 
from both parties. So it does. We do not ask anything else. W^e agree to give up our 
opinions, to a certain extent, and all we ask is that you shall yield yours to a ccitain ex- 
tent also. What is the running of this Hue ? Under the Chicago platform, gentlemen of 
the Republican party claim that slavery does not exist in a ningle foot of territory, and that 
it never did. and never shall, exist there. The southern people, without regard to party — 
there is not a southern man who denies it— the Bouthevn people unanimously hold to the 
opinion that they have a right to go with their slave property into all of the Territories. 
They imagine that that claim is founded upon a decision of the Supreme Court — the Dred 
Scott decision. What is this proposition we offer ? We propose to apply the Chicago plat- 
form to three-fourths of the Territorie8,and the best parts of them, and we a.sk you to apply 
the decision of the Supreme Caurt of the Uuiied States to the other quarter, and that the 
worst of the Territories. I hold that that is a compromise. 1 hold that the South has done 
(ill, in the way of concession, in that proposition, that any fair man could desire. 

Mr. Speaker, let the House adopt this policy, run this line, and gentlemen know — no man 
doubts it; I do not believe there are three men upon this Hoor who doubt it — I say, that if 
we run this line of 36° 30' through the Territories, we will retain every border State in the 
Union, and, in all human probability, bring back every seceding StHi^;, excepting, it maybe, 
South Carolina. She may stay out awhile; and I should not be worry it she did; I should 
like to see her, with her three hundred thousand white people, play grand nation for a time 
and pay the expenses. I think she will get tired of the honor, as well as its cost, in a very 
short period of time. 

I say I prefer this ; but, Mr. Speaker, at the same time. I will take any other plan that 
. will settle permanently this question. But I do ask that, in whatever compromise you pass, 
you will settle this question of slavery everywhere. I hope that you will forever exclude 
it from these Halls. Take away that bone of contention not only in the Territories, but 
here in this District. Gentlemen say that they have no intention to interfere with slavery 
in the District of Columbia, and that consequently there is no necessity for legislation on 
the subject now. I believe they have no such intention ; but the time may hereafter come 
when it will be the means of mischief between us. Put it in the Constitution that slavery, 
except under certain circumstarces, shall not be interfered with in this District. Put it 
where we cannot touch it. Settle the question in regard to the forts, arsenals, and dock- 
yards, in the southern States. I ask you to do it, not only because of the condition of 
feeling in the South on the subject, and for the peace and harmony of the country, but for 
your own sake. You know that there are men in your midst (Abolitionists) who will strike 
at slavery wherever they can reach it. Their attention, for some years, has been called 
away from this District to a larger held for their operations — the Territories; but, sir, 
you know, when we have settled this question in the Territories, they will bring their bat- 
teries to bear upon it here. Settle the question here in this District, or it will settle you at 
home if your party continues to exist The Abolition wing, if you do not respond to their 
petitions to abolish slavery here, will split from you and defeat you. 

Now, sir, what good has ever resulted t» the country from this discussion of the slavery 
question? Who has been benefited by it? Is there a single man or a single State in the 



Union which has received the slightest advantage from the discussions that have taken 
place here and elsewhere upon this subject? Not one. You have not decreased the num- 
ber of slave States by it. Vou have not added to the number of free States by it. You 
have not reduced the number of bondmen by it. Vou have not increased the number of 
freemen by it. Vou have done nothing by it,' except array one part of the Republic against 
the other. The result is the peril which now threatens the very existence of the country 
1 ask you, as wise men, as patriots, in the settlement of this question, to make it final — to 
bury it forever. Nev^r let it come up to divide those who ought to be united : to make 
enemies of those who ought to be friends. 

But, Mr. Speaker, this House may refuse to pass any measure of adjustment. 1 hope not. 
I confess my faith is a little skaken. The vote* this morning has been a damper upon my 
feelings, and hangs a cloud over my former bright prospects. I hope 1 misunderstood the 
meaning of that vote. 1 hope it is not the intention of gentlemen of the North to refuse all 
conciliation, to refuse all compromise, to refuse all concession necessary to compose the 
public mind, and restore the public tranquillity, but to unsheath the sword and come down 
upon the South with it. to enforce the laws, to protect the public property, or to destroy the 
Sotuh in an eflfort to do so. 1 trust that is not the intention. I will not say I believe it is ; 
and yet 1 do say, it has somewhat shaken my (Confidence in the intention of this House to 
come to a fair, honorable, and just measure of compromise. Fiut, sir, if the House shall re- 
fuse, if the Peace Conference shall fail to recommend measures of adjustment, or if they 
recommend measures which this House shall fail to put in execution, I still am not willing to 
despair of the Republic ; 1 will not advise my people at home to lay rash hands upon the 
pillars of the Republic ; I shall still advise them that I believe there is a better day in 
store for them. We complain of the precipitancy of the seceding States; and I desire 
that our people shall not be liable to the same charge. But I tell you, your course is also 
precipitate. You complain of the rashness with which the southern States have rushed 
out of the Republic ; and yet, in the same rash way, you draw the sword to come down 
upon them. Give them time to reflect before you charge upon them with your mailed 
legions 

Mr. SHERMAN. I desire to say oue word to the gentleman from Maryland. I ask the 
gentleman if he will allow the acknowledged property of the United States to remain in the 
hands of the officers of the United States ? If so, there will be no danger of a collision. 

Mr. WEBSTER. I will say to my friend, that I have no intention to seize any property 
of the United States, or to take any steps to prevent such property remaining in the hands 
of the officers of the United States. 

Mr. SHER,MAN. I will ask the gentleman whether he himself, and the people of Mary- 
land, are not willing to defend the property of the United States from all assaults, by any 
and everybody, no matter where situated ? 

Mr. WEBSTER. I am looking- to the actual condition of afl'airs in the country. If, by 
precipitate action in defending property and punishing treason,you bring more dangers upon 
my people and upon the country, than you would by taking a conciliatory course, I say I 
will not enforce the laws. [Great applause in the galleries.] It is amere question of policy. 
If I believed that the Union of these States could be preserved, or restored to harmony, by 
enforcing the laws and by protecting the public property at sill points, I, and I believe the 
people of my State, almost to a man, wotild rally to the enforcement of the laws and the 
protection of the public property. [Renewed applause in the galleries.] 

The SPEAKER The Chair is under the necessity of requesting that there shall be no 
manifestation of approbation or disapprobation in the galleries. If it is allowed upon one 
side it must be allowed upon the other, and we should be constantly annoyed. 

Mr. WEBSTER. A gentleman near me asks if we will carry the war into the North ? 
Sir, I thank the gentleman for the suggestion. I will advise my people to carry the war 
into the North. I will advise them not to rush rashly upon the Republic because the Rep- 
resentatives of the North refuse — if they shall refuse— just and honorable compromise. I 
will advise them to attack the North, not with sword and musket and cannon, but by their 
wisest and best men, sent into every hamlet, village, and city, to call upon the people to 
rise up in their defence. Sir, I believe that when the conservative men of the South shall 
appeal to the sympathy, the fraternity, and the conservative sentiments of their brethren 
of the North, they will respond to that appeal. If you refuse now to take steps of concilia- 



* Reference ia made to the Tote upon the motion to reject, on its second resMUng, Mr. Staktos's " Force Bill, 
which reeulted as follows : Ayes 68, noes 109. 



8 

tion, I believe that your people, when we have called upon them, asking only for our rights, 
and asking that in the spirit of fraternity, will rise up in the majesty of their power and 
the might of their patriotism, and trample upon all men, crush all platforms, and destroy 
all parties, which stand between them and a full acknowledgment of the rights of their 
southern brethren. 

I repeat, I will not despair of the Republic because you refuse to take steps here for its 
preservation. We will appeal to the power behind the throne. We will appeal to the 
mighty people who sent you here ; for I feel assured that if we shall do this, and do it in 
that spirit which I know the people of Maryland, and the men of the other border States, 
will exhibit, your people will be willing to come up again to the common altar of the Ke 
public, and standing with their southern brethren around that holy altar, I believe they will 
be willing to renew to each other the vows their fathers made in the cause of liberty, in 
the cause of freedom, and in the cause of the Union, pledging to each other " their lives, 
their fortunes, and their sacred honor." 

Now, Mr. Speaker, I have no doubt, if all the gentleman here would forget that they 
ever belonged to a party, forget their party ties — I speak of both sides of the House — 
would forget that upon the stumps of their various districts they h^ve used exaggerated 
language, and made strong declai'ations ; and would remember that the duty upon which 
they are here engaged is legislation for the interests of the whole country, legislation for 
the well-being of every man within the limits of the country — if they would do this, I be- 
lieve we would be able to agree upon measures which would settle these difficulties, or at 
least that we could initiate measures which would lead to a settlement. So far as I am 
concerned, I pledge gentlemen that I am willing to forget self and party ; that I am willing 
to forget everything but the good of my country and the honor of my State ; and I ask 
gentlemen to come up to the assistance of the men of the South who have battled against 
disunion, who have arrayed themselves against secession ; that you shall strengthen their 
arms and encourage their labors, that thus they may bring to a successful termination this 
battle for the Union. 

If you do this, not only the plaudits of your fellows will be upon you, but all coming 
time will heap blessijjgs upon your heads. If you and I refuse to take the proper steps, if 
we retuse to do all that patriotic men should do to bring about such a result, then I doubt 
not the maledictions not only of our own fellows, but of posterity and all humanity, will 
bury us deep in eternal infamy. 

HiT, I desire to leave my children no such heritage as this. I desire, if this Union is to 
be broken up, and poverty and oppression are to be their heritage, that the bitterest drop 
in all that cup shall not be that their father assisted in bringing these evils upon them and 
their country. I desire that, when they look back to this time, in which we might have 
saved a mighty nation, but in which we destroyed one, they shall at least believe that the 
man from whom they sprung did all that his feeble efforts enabled him to do to preserve 
his country, and the rights, liberties, and happiness of its people. 



M«QiLL & WiiRKKOW, Pi'iiit«r8. Waebingtftn, D. C. 














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